Invisible Cities

　　"Kublai Khan does not necessarily believe everything MarcoPolo says when he describes the cities visited on his expeditions,but the emperor of the Tartars does continue listening to the youngVenetian with greater attention and curiosity than he shows anyother messenger or explorer of his." So begins Italo Calvino'scompilation of fragmentary urban images. As Marco tells the khanabout Armilla, which "has nothing that makes it seem a city, exceptthe water pipes that rise vertically where the houses should be andspread out horizontally where the floors should be," the spider-webcity of Octavia, and other marvelous burgs, it may be that he iscreating them all out of his imagination, or perhaps he isrecreating details of his native Venice over and over again, orperhaps he is simply recounting some of the myriad possible forms acity might take.